XMen: A tale of two fortunes
by Merios
Summary: [STOPPED]Twins are born amongst chaos. A new mutant arrives with terrible power. Two sides are struggling in control over the flip of a coin. What will happen when good goes away? R
1. A Unexpected Move

"Miss, it's a beautiful baby boy.." A middle-eastern doctor said, handing a small bundle of sheets with a bald baby head protruding from the top.

As the doctor began to walk towards her, a blond-haired nurse from behind him ran up to the mother. "One more, Doc," she said as the doctor set the baby in a small plastic crib nearby.

No one was expecting another baby- yet alone twins. The doctor delivered the baby just as easily as the first one, but for some reason, with no struggle from the mother. Once he looked up from between the woman's legs, the mother flat lined.

"Get a defibrillator on her!" A nurse yelled as the doctor set the baby into the same crib the other baby was in, both babies were wrapped up in a blue towel.

Several other doctors rushed in to try and shock the woman back to health- but to no avail. Three minutes later, the main doctor walked out of the room and headed towards the waiting room. The doctor stood by the swinging glass door, hesitating for a moment, watching a brawn man cry only fifteen feet away. The doctor pushed open the doors and walked to the man, kneeling down and setting the two babies in his arms. The doctor nodded to the husband as the man looked over the babies, sighing a little, wiping away tears from his eyes. Just then, a large explosion rocked the hospital, followed by three more well placed shock waves. 

"Get the children out of here!" The doctor screamed at the man, running to the left towards a private staircase, unlocking it with his key card as the husband ran to him.

"Here, take this exit. It leads to the bottom floor. Hurry!" He said, turning around.

At that moment, the doctor was peppered with bullets from a shotgun, knocking him against the wall, sliding down in a bloody heap. The father rushed down the stairs, unable to process his thoughts correctly, but more than enough adrenaline to run down the stairs quickly and safely with two crying sons in his arms. Minutes later, he shouldered out the back door of the hospital and bolting off down an alleyway. Four more explosions shook the hospital as the third floor collapsed on itself, sending flaming debris and pieces of concrete to the ground. The father made it to his car and opened the unlocked passenger side door, to set his children on the floor of the front passenger-side seat of the car, between the seat and the glove box. He slid off his flannel shirt and set it over the crying infants.

As the husband shut the door, three gunshots rang out in the air, each one followed a bullet which hit the father in the back, making the husband slide down to the ground, dead. The gunman quickly ran off, back to another car. A passing female bystander noticed the man putting the infants into the car and opened the passenger-side door and grabbed the babies, running off with them, watching over her right shoulder as firetrucks and police vehicles pulled up to the collapsing hospital building.  
--

"I got you!" Tate yelled, tailing Cody, the oldest of the two twins, who was dribbling a basketball towards the south basket of the two hoops.

"Here comes the three-pointer!" He said, skidding to a halt and shooting the ball towards the basket, barely missing it and making it bounce off to the side of the court. 

"That's game!" Tate said, throwing up his arms. 

"Yeah yeah.." Cody said, sitting down on a bench nearby.

Cody puts you in mind of a tiger, he has deep-set gray eyes. His luxurious, curly, chestnut hair is neck-length and is worn in an artistic style. He has a slender build. His skin is slightly tan and he has prominent cheekbones. His wardrobe consists of a black t-shirt with khaki-colored baggy cargo pants with black and white sneakers. Cody took a swig of his water bottle that was sitting next to him on the bench and watched as Tate picked up the ball and waved.

"Gotta get going, see ya later Cody!" He said, walking out of a gap in the fencing around the court.

"Yo Blake!" Cody yelled, getting to up walk over to Blake, who was huddled up in the shadows in the corner of the court, drawing on a notepad he had rested on his folded legs.

Blake has beady magenta eyes. His thick, wavy, jet black hair is neck-length and worn in a plain style. He is tall and has an athletic build, his skin is pale and he has long-fingered hands and small feet. His wardrobe consists of a white t-shirt and a black-and-red striped long-sleeved undershirt. He had plain baggy blue jeans on with several belts around his waist (due to the fact that all the belt loops were gone), to keep his pants from falling down.

"Yeah?" Blake said, looking up from his notepad and squinting one eye, looking at Cody as the sun glared in his eyes. 

"Let's go, Tate already left," Cody said, extending an arm to Blake.

The younger of the twins just stood up and slipped his notepad in his shoulder bag and slid it over his right shoulder, walking out of the court with Cody. "Hey.." Cody said, glancing at Blake.

"Yeah?"

"What are you drawing in that thing?" Cody said, motioning towards the pack as he pushed the small red button on a street light, waiting for the light to show to walk.

"Oh, it's just some sketches I've been doing. Nothing important.." Blake replied, stopping to get the notepad out of his pack.

"C'mon, traffic stopped," Cody said, walking into the street.

"Found it!" Blake said, pulling the notebook out of his pack but accidentally flinging it in the middle of the street.

"I got it!" Blake said, running after the notebook, oblivious to the car traveling towards him.

"Watch out!" Cody yelled, running towards Blake just as the car was feet from Blake's body.

Cody tensed up and planted his right foot onto the ground. With that action, the ground beneath him cracked a little due to the fact that construction was being done on the sewers below. That crack resonated throughout the sewer lines, causing the crack to get bigger as it traveled towards the sidewalk they were previously on, finally catching up with the street lamp. The crack stopped at the lamp as the street light went out. Seconds later, the whole lamp toppled over on top of the car, inches from Cody, crushing the car down the middle, effectively stopping it in it's tracks.

"Whoa.." Blake said, grabbing his notebook and running to the other side of the street.

Cody looked up at the car and backed up towards Blake, standing beside him.

"How did you do that..?" Blake said, stuffing the notebook back into his pack, slowly prying his eyes from the wreck and to Cody's face. 

"I...I don't know.." Cody said, turning around, "but let's head home.. this never happened.. Right?" Cody said, looking into Blake's eyes as he started to walk forward, not giving the crash behind him and second glance.

"Right."

--  
"Hey dad," Blake said to a man twice his size, length and width.

"Hey Blake. Hey, heard what happened today on the news, hope you two were not hurt, it happened near that basketball court you guys always go to," Greg said, still ignorant about what really happened.

"Yeah.. Wel-" Blake was caught off guard by Cody's arm slinging itself around his arm.

"Well, we have homework to do, so we're heading up to our rooms, Dad," Cody said, walking off with Blake.

"Yeah.. Sure.." Greg said, raising an eyebrow at their strange behavior then shrugging it off. Their dad was single, so they really didn't have a mother. The woman who rescued them had put them in an orphanage, passing off as their real mother when Greg adopted them two months later.

Blake and Cody arrived at the door to Cody's room. Blake opened it and stepped inside, shoving off Cody's arm as Cody shut the door. Blake slung off his bag and set it in the corner by the door, moving to plop on Cody's disheveled bed.

"Now, have any idea what happened?" Blake questioned.

"I have an idea.." Cody answered, sitting on the bed next to Blake.

"I've been having a good luck streak recently.. I found a fifty dollar bill on the ground a few days ago... got a free soda from a machine.. and now I saved your life without even coming in contact with that car. It was just coincidence that the lamp post actually fell.." He said, leaning on a dresser.

"Yeah.. I'm thinking you have the magic touch," Blake said with a laugh, "you always did get the better things."

Something snapped in Cody's mind. "Wait a second... you know all those mutants you see on television? Like destroying stuff and saving people?"

Blake sighed, "don't be stupid, you're not one of those things, you're just lucky, that's all."

"No.. I think it's deeper than that.. Hey! Maybe if I have a 'mutation,' you do too!" Cody said.

Obviously, this got Drake's attention. "Yeah? Like what? I doubt I'm lucky.." Drake said.

"That's exactly what I mean. We're twins.. not Siamese.. but twins. We're opposite each other in just about every way..maybe you can cause bad luck?" He said.

Drake blinked a few times. Cody was always the smart one, but Drake understood the point. "Doubtful.. we're nothing special, Cody. You're just having delusions.. at any rate, we might as well look into it at the library later on today," Drake said.

"Yeah, let's do that. Right now," Cody said, starting for the door.

"Geez.. you're like a dog with a bone.." Drake said, "fine.. lets go. If you find any money on the ground, it's mine," he said with a laugh as they headed out the bedroom door.

-Separator-

Meanwhile, at the X Mansion...

Storm, Nightcrawler, meet me in my office, I need to have a word with you two, it's important.

Professor Xavier sat in his office chair and his hands rested on the arm rests of the chair. He was facing the large window behind his desk. He turned around as the door opened.

"Yes Professor?" Storm said, walking in with Nightcrawler following.

They were in their normal attire- plain and inconspicuous, Nightcrawler had his disguise on, so he looked like a normal teenager- baggy pants, open khaki shirt with a pinstripe t-shirt underneath, black hair.

"I was using cerebro a few minutes ago to do a routine check and another mutant has surfaced. It seems he has recently hit puberty and his powers have been activated. They are still raw and untamed. With time, he will grow to use them. I want you two to check it out. I fear Magneto has already heard about this.. teenager," Xavier said.

Storm and Nightcrawler nodded. "We'll get on it immediately. Is he dangerous?" Nightcrawler said.

"Not specifically, but I do believe he's rather short tempered and cocky, so be on your best behavior. He has a passive power, and will only be activated when the time arises."

Storm nodded and headed out the door without Nightcrawler. She heard all she needed. "Storm... has seemed rather distant lately.." Nightcrawler said.

Xavier nodded, "best to leave it to her, I'm sure she'll come to with time."

Nightcrawler bowed and exited the room. He glanced down the hallway and saw Storm as she turned a corner. He jumped into the air and disappeared in a puff of dark purple smoke, appearing next to her in that same puff of dark purple smoke. His disguise had been deactivated by the use of his powers, so he switched it back on.

"I don't know why you try to hide yourself.." Storm said.

"It's because in my natural form, I tend to be a bit.. rough around the edges. I scare people.. you know that," Nightcrawler added.

Storm sighed and turned a corner. "You shouldn't care what other people think, I think you look rather handsome."

Nightcrawler smirked a bit, his cheeks turned a bit rosy. "Heh.. danke..," he said, his German accent showing through.

"Lets get suited up, and head out.." Storm said, turning a corner into a small circular doorway, putting her hand on a keypad and walking through.

Nightcrawler deactivated his wrist console and walked through, heading to a hallway with 'Male' written on the top of it as Storm walked through a hallway to the left of that hallway labeled 'Female'. Minutes later, they both walked out of the hallways and out of the room, fully dressed in their X suits.

"Do you think that this will be easy?" Kurt said, following Storm around a corner.

"Yes, fairly. It's just a meeting," Storm replied.

Once again stopping in front of an arch way with a small hand print verification pad to the left of the doorway. He put her hand on it as the door slid open. "Good.. I needed some.. reinsurance.." Kurt said as they stepped onto the small ramp that extended from the bottom of the X-Jet.

As they went inside, the ramp slid back into the jet. Kurt took his seat behind the passenger side chair as Storm got into the pilot's chair. "Xavier already put the coordinates into the multicomputer.. so all we need to do is get there.. "

Nightcrawler tightened his belt and nodded. "Let's go then."

Storm fired up the engines and set everything for liftoff. "Here we go.. " She said, pressing a small button as the ground opened up under the basketball courts, the large ship emerging from the ground and speeding off into the air, cloaking. The two doors slid shut afterwards, putting the ground back to normal.

--

"Why 'da 'ell do we need 'ta find 'dis bloke anyway? Waste of time is what it is.." Pyro said, leaning on a brick wall across the alleyway from a concentrating Mystique.

"Because Magneto thinks he will be of good use.."

"What da 'ell does he even do anyway?" Pyro said, flicking his lighter out and striking it as a small flame appeared, he continued this motion for some time, not letting his eyes stray from the flame.

"He can cause bad luck on his enemies.. which means with us, he can destroy the X Mansion in a second, or even kill Xavier.."

"Wow.. " Pyro said, sliding the lighter back into his sleeve carrier, pulling back the spring loaded mechanism.

He pushed away from the wall. "His brother is of no use to us. Even though he does have a power, it's a class two mutation, while his brother is a class four.. they are twins.." Mystique said.

"Well if that one bloke can cause bad luck, then the other brother can cause good.. wouldn't that be better than bad?"

Mystique shook her head. "We don't need to find money on the ground, or break into a bank or save someone, we're bigger than that. What we need is our enemies to have bad luck.." She said, nodding a little and beginning to walk off.

"You wouldn't believe what can happen with curses on you.."

Pyro headed towards Mystique, walking along with her as she transformed into a normal High School guy, an outcast, to blend in at the library. Strange to see such an outcast hanging out with John, who was the 'bad ass' of his school- before the Institute. Mystique pushed open the doors of the library and instantly spotted the two brothers hunched over a computer monitor.

Blake glanced up from the screen towards the male standing before him.

"Yo.." Drake said.

"You must be Drake, I'm Freddie and this here is John.." Pyro just nodded towards Drake in greeting.

"I want to show you something.. c'mere," Mystique said, beginning to walk off, "John, stay with his brother, keep him company.

Drake shrugged and followed after Mystique as John just stood there, sizing up Cody. "What?" He said, moving to stand.

"Drake.. " Freddie said, well away from earshot of the others, behind a couple book cases.

_How does he know my name?_

"I'm wanting you to join a group of friends, my friends. We know about you and your brother, I saw the whole thing on the street."

"I'm listening.."

"I want to invite you to a meeting, I'm sure they are all excited to meet you, Drake."

_He said it again.. somehow...he knows who I am.._

"What if I refuse?"

"Well, that's your choice, but we accept people like you.. like me."

Mystique leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Come with me, and you will leave these... insects behind."

That phrase made him have goosebumps. Either it was the male blowing in his ear or the strange situation, he felt.. different.


	2. Fire and Brimstone

Cradling his heads in his arms on a table in a New York city bar, a hooded man awoke from the sound of a slamming cabinet door.

"Matthew, you know you have to get up early tomorrow... why do you do this to yourself?" Jack said, the bartender for the day.

It was the end of his shift, and he wanted to get out as quick as he can, but he needed to get this bum out first. Bum. Funny word for a guy he's known for three years and had bunked with him in his apartment for two.

"Yeah yeah.." Matthew said, moving his head up, taking a glance at the blurry image of a man's torso in front of him.

His hood slid off of his head to reveal a rather pale face. Clear of blemishes and smooth skin, a refined jaw bone and a skinny face that was enhanced by piercing crimson eyes and framed by locks of stringy hair that reached the bottom of his nose on either side of his face. Matthew slowly stood up, stretching a little. He shook a little from the lightning that struck the ground. Strange for a clear night, if you can even see the clouds over the blocked view of the New York skyline. He slid his leather jacket on that was a few feet away from him on a barstool and stuffed his hood down into the back of his jacket. His dark blue jeans were torn in seemingly random places, and his gray hoodie was almost too big for his size.

"See you later Jack," he said, walking to the door.

"Mmmhmm.. just take care of yourself, you hear?"

"I'll live."

"Not long, mind you," Jack said in a sing-song voice.

Matthew just walked outside into the clear night air and shut the door behind him with a small laugh and headed right. The streets were empty and the air didn't have it's usual smell of car exhaust and moldy hot dog buns, but more like morning dew, even though it was only 4 o' clock in the afternoon. 23 years old and no job, an apartment that had rent way past due, and the only family in the area was his five year old daughter May, who he had moved here with after gaining custody of her two months before after a heated court room session with his ex wife. He was a mess- and he knew it. Just about everyone knew it, and that's why they made friends with him. He seemed like someone that needed help, a push in the right direction.

Three blocks from his apartment and sirens begin to blare in the distance behind him. He turned to see a fire truck speeding towards him, turn, then head down the street he was going towards- his apartment building's street. He began to walk faster, curiosity and fear beginning to settle in his mind, struggling to fight the slight buzz he had gotten from the drinks earlier. His mind racing. He hoped that it wasn't the whole building that was on fire, or even if it was even his building. He stopped immediately in the middle of a street crosswalk to look at the raging inferno that was previously his safe haven. The building seemed so minuscule compared to the massive flames licking the building's brick siding. The moment, the scene, and his life smelled like brimstone and sulfur.

His own glimpse of hell.   
--  
"Turning on cloaking.. now." Storm said, flicking a small button above the center console as the ship began to fade away into the daylight surrounding them, bending the sunlight in every direction, becoming completely invisible. Carefully guiding the ship through the skyline of New York, Storm had also modified the atmosphere, to create a lightning storm to cover their exit.

"Are you sure this is needed, Storm?" Nightcrawler said, looking out the main window at the building below them which apparently was a library of some sort.

"We're landing now, hold tight," Storm ordered, guiding the ship slowly downward, hovering above the ground about three hundred feet before finally coaxing it onto the roof of an outlet store.

"Alright.." Storm hit a small button underneath the console as the ship's loading ramp slid out of the hull and landed on the gravel of the roof.

Nightcrawler looked out the window at the ramp and nodded, unbuckling himself and standing. He turned the clock face on his watch a few times by the rim, his physical appearance changing drastically into several human versions. He finally settled on the regular run-of-the-mill teenager from earlier. Storm, still in her X Suit headed out of the ship and down the loading ramp with Nightcrawler tagging along.

_Oh no..._

Mystique had already lead Blake outside and left Pyro inside with Cody. Although Nightcrawler didn't know if that was Mystique or not, he had a pretty good idea. "The brotherhood.." Storm said, wrapping her arms around Nightcrawler's neck.

He nodded and disappeared in a puff of black smoke with a slight 'bamf' sound and re appeared in an alleyway the exact same way. Storm let go and walked out into the street which Mystique was on. Nightcrawler repositioned his watch so he was that kid again then caught up with Storm.

"Lets wait until he's alone.." Storm said, watching as Mystique leaned over to whisper in his ear then walked off, leaving Blake standing there. 

Nightcrawler slowly turned into the street and onto the sidewalk nearest the main doors of the library, leaving Storm at the edge of the alleyway near the street. He opened the main doors and instantly his attention was drawn to a large flame gathering in the air above Blake's brother Cody, who didn't really look like him. He had to do something- and fast. Quickly getting on all fours, he sprinted towards Cody and Pyro. He leaped into the air and disappeared in a puff of dark purple smoke with a flat sound and reappearing in the air behind Cody. He wrapped his arms and legs around Cody and ported again, seconds before Pyro let loose the massive fireball that had been growing in his right hand. 

Reappearing outside on the street where he was with Storm, he ported once more on top of the building where the cloaked X Jet was sitting. Cody brought down his arms and opened his eyes to see a lithe furry blue creature standing before him, a prehensile pointed tail flowing behind him.

"Greetings.." Nightcrawler said, bowing to Cody.

"I am Kurt Wagner.." He said in his deep German accent.

--  
Holding his staff in his gloved right hand, Gambit stood in the middle of a small dark alleyway a few miles away from Nightcrawler and Storm, waiting for his opponent to strike.

"C'mon 'ya slimy toad.."

Donned in his normal gray X Suit covered by a vest and a long brown trench coat, Gambit twirled his staff and began to walk forward, deeper into the shadows, the coat tail of his trench began to sway back and forth with his movements and his dark brown hair was pulled back by a strip of leathery cloth that was part of his suit, only letting his bangs fall over his face, a dark red bandanna sat on his head, tied around his forehead and the end dangling by the back of his neck.

"Hiyah!" Toad screamed, flipping down from an emergency exit stairway and spinning into a vicious spiral, his feet forward like a drill towards Gambit.

Gambit quickly slid to the right just as Toad slammed into the ground and vaulted back up into the shadows. He heard sinister, insane laughter coming from above somewhere. He couldn't quite pinpoint the echo, but he knew Toad was around somewhere. Gambit slid his staff into it's sheath and reached into his jacket to pull out seven cards. He flayed them out on his palm and ignited them with a psionic blast of bluish energy.

_Come out, come out wherever you are.._

Gambit flipped the cards over in his hands and sent them in a quick motion soaring in many directions, each one planting into the brick wall on either side of the alleyway, lighting the place up like Vegas. Seconds later, a hard drop kick to the jaw sent him sprawling backwards into a dumpster. He opened his eyes to see Toad flipping into the air, resting on the rung of a fire escape ladder with his toes, hanging, watching. What Toad didn't realize, was that he was inches away from one of the lit cards Gambit had thrown earlier. With a wicked smirk, Gambit detonated the card, blowing Toad off of his perch and into the brick wall on the other side of the alley. 

_Bingo.._

Gambit flipped to his feet and withdrew another 5 cards and flayed them out on his palm. He ignited them and threw them towards Toad, each one pinning Toad to the wall through his clothing, making Toad glow with an eerie blue light. Gambit pulled out his staff and rammed the back end of it into the back of Toad's neck, seeing as Toad was about 10 feet off of the ground, pinned to the wall.

"Talk," Gambit said, pushing harder.

"I ain't tellin' you shit."

Gambit enhanced one of the card's psionic energy, making it flare up in a blue fire, searing Toad's left forearm through his shirt.

"Okay! Okay... Whaddya wanna know?"

"I wanna know how The Brotherhood can pinpoint mutants.."  
--  
Looking over the security monitors of the main entrance, Forge spotted a young man, hunched over, holding his gut on the front steps, feet away from the main doors. Blood was caked all other this teenager's body and several gashes turned black from the stained blood on a torn black t-shirt. Mud and almost-dried water covered his jeans and his hair was greasy and damp from the blood coming from a cut on his right eyebrow. He looked like hell. Forge stood up from his chair and headed out of the security room. He knew he had to get to the man fast before he lost consciousness from loss of blood, and he was the only one who knew he was there. He quickly rounded a corner and bumped into Jubilee, who was walking along, headed towards the security room herself, holding a small cup of coffee.

"C'mon, someone's hurt," he said, grabbing Jubilee's shoulder and tugging her along.

"Who? Where?" She said, setting the coffee on the ground.

"The main entrance, he looks really bad.." 

Forge managed to make his way through the maze to find the elevator that led up to the main floors from the subbasement. He opened up the doors via a hand print verification pad on the side of the doors and pulled Jubilee in. She shut the doors and pressed in the floor number, glancing over at a panting Forge as cheesy jazz music began to play it's soft melody, effectively ruining the emergence of the situation. When the elevator dinged, Forge and Jubilee bolted out of the door and headed full speed down the hallway, down the entrance stairs and to the main doors.

Jubilee swung the doors open and gasped a little from the bloody heap that lay on the ground before her.

"Lets get him to the infirmary.." Forge said, walking next to him and kneeling, putting his index and middle fingertips under the man's chin to feel his pulse.

"Still alive, I'll get him to the infirmary, you get Lifestream," he said, picking the man up carefully.

Jubilee nodded and ran into the mansion, passing Forge as he headed towards the infirmary which was just down the hall. He took a left and entered the first door on the right. The room smelled a lot like anesthetic and sterilizing liquid. The wallpaper was white enough to get a person dizzy and enough electronic equipment to make you go insane. Forge gently laid the man down on a small stretcher/bed as Jubilee walked in, Lifestream, or Lisa, walking beside her, donned in just a black tank top, tight bluejeans and a pair of sandals. Lisa's eyes widened as she took a look at the man on the table.

"Oh..he looks bad.."

"What are you waitin' for?"

"Go on Lisa, he needs your help," Jubilee said, giving Lifestream a bit of a nudge.

Lifestream nodded and put her hands on the man's cheekbones, running her hands down to his chest and closing her eyes, concentrating for a moment, her curly blond locks falling over her petite face. A white glow began to radiate from her hands, the white light enveloping the man's body. Within minutes, the wounds began to seal up and the blood around them began to evaporate.

"All done," Lisa said with a smile.  
--

"What in 'da bloody 'ell was that all about!" Pyro said, staring at the flaming and desk before him.

"Where 'da 'ell did he go? He was about to get toasted.." He all of a sudden began to smell a lingering odor of sulfur and he noticed a fading dark purple cloud of smoke. 

"Damn it all!" Pyro slammed his fist down into the computer monitor, then pulling it away and cradling it.

_Didn't go as well as I planned.._

He balled his right fist and aimed his left palm towards the flaming computer, drawing the flames from that, he amplified them and began hurling fireballs all over the inside of the library, igniting book cases on fire as well as computers. He was torching the place. Seconds afterwards, the sprinklers turned on, putting out all the fire, as well as his source of energy, making his onslaught stop in it's tracks.

"Oh well.." He said, turning to walk outside.

_After all, I did _some_ damage.._

As he pushed open the doors, he noticed a dark-skinned woman talking to Blake. He recognized instantly that it was Storm. Strange neither of them tried to stop him from destroying the place, maybe they knew the sprinklers were going to switch on. Pyro slid to the left just as Storm looked in his direction, he hid behind a small pillar that was near the main doors. He pressed on the bud of his right earlobe.

"Mystique, all didn't go as planned, 'da bloody worm 'ported in and took the bloke before I got a chance to roast 'em."

There was a crackle over his ear piece.

"It's fine, let him go. The MCA will take him out anyway."

Pyro switched off his ear piece and stepped out of the pillar, looking towards Storm, then turning and taking off down the street in a jog, taking note of his surroundings. He took a left at the street sign and was out of sight. Next time he was going to kill that mutant. He spotted a pay phone not too far from his current position, so he headed towards it. As soon as he neared it, he fished around in his right back pocket for some loose change. He picked up a few quarters. He nodded to himself and opened up the pay phone door and stepped inside. He grabbed the phone and pressed in '911'.

"'Ello?"

"Operator. What's your emergency?"

"Yeah.. there's one of 'dose.. mutant things nearby. Pretty dangerous too.. he tried to light a library on fire..'ya might wanna send somebody out before he does anything else.."

"We'll send a few patrol cars your way, stay on the line, I want more information."

--  
"What..." Cody said, looking at the creature before him in horror.

"Get away from me!" He yelled, backing up to the edge of the building.

Nightcrawler edged towards him. "Don't be scared, come with me. You need help.."

"Stay away!" Cody yelled.

"I'm not going to hurt you.. " Nightcrawler said, staying where he was.

Cody yelped as he tripped off the side of the building, falling downward upside down, flailing his arms for something to grab onto. Kurt leaped off the side of the building, grabbing onto him on the way down and 'porting to the ground. Instantly, Cody pushed away and took off running. Storm walked up beside Nightcrawler and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not yet.." She said as Blake walked up beside her.

"So.. you're one of them.. too?" Blake said, raising an eyebrow at the blue creature that stood beside the woman he had been talking to.

"Yes.. you're not going to run off too.. are you?" Kurt said, starting to back up.

Blake smirked and walked over, holding a hand out. "My name's Blake."

Nightcrawler stood straight, reaching out and shaking Blake's hand with his own three-fingered hand. "Kurt."

Blake nodded and let go, watching his brother round a corner and disappear. "He'll come to. He isn't... as understanding as I am.."

Storm smiled a little. "I'm just glad you didn't listen to that kid from earlier.. he's bad news," she said, referring to Mystique's transformation, Freddie.

"He kinda freaked me out.. getting that close to me.. I wouldn't have believed a word he said."

Nightcrawler snickered a bit and looked up on the roof that had the X Jet on it. 

"'Vell, lets head home. We mustn't keep the rest of them waiting."

Storm nodded and motioned to Blake, looking at Nightcrawler, "take him. I'm not about to walk four stories up to the roof.."

Kurt nodded and put a hand on Blake's left shoulder, facing the building. "Ready for a ride?"

Blake nodded, glancing to Storm as she began to float on a current of wind upwards.

"Always."


	3. The Danger Room

_Oh god..My head..._

The wounded man from earlier had came to, moving to sit up on the plastic sheets of the bed he had recently been resting on. He moved one hand to his forehead and put the palm just above his right eyebrow, clenching a little, then removing it once more and placing it on the edge of the bed, as well as his other, right next to his two thighs. He used that position to hop off of the table. Within seconds he realized that he was totally naked, and the door was wide open. Seeing this now, he moved to shut the door. He turned around and his eyes darted about the room until they rested on a pile of clothes. He picked up the gray wife beater and a blue cotton sweater. 

"Funny.."

He slid the gray shirt on and dropped the sweater, slipping on the small pair of boxers and then the pair of black baggy denim jeans. He felt someone was watching and turned around, his eyes catching the slender figure of a girl, looking about the age of 16-17.

"How did you get in here?" The man demanded, moving towards her to open the door behind her, pressing up against the back side of the door.

"Well.. I..uh.." She motioned towards the door, "kinda uh.. walked.. through it?"

He just sighed and walked out, Kitty following him.

"Without our help, you wouldn't b-"

"When we get upstairs, we'll talk about it.." He said, walking towards her, facing her now.

"Alright.. follow me," she said, starting to grab his hand.

He quickly pulled away, shoving both hands in his pockets.

"You.. wouldn't want to do that.. "

Kitty raised an eyebrow then just shrugged. He had his reasons. She began to walk down the hallway, turning right with him following.

"So.. how did you get here..?" She asked, turning again and walking to the elevator, pressing the hand print verification pad nearby.

"No idea."

She walked into the elevator, motioning for him to follow her.

"So, what's your name anyway?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that."

--  
"Dad.. they were everywhere.. He..They.."

"Wow.. slow down.. who was everywhere?" Greg said, moving to stand from his chair. 

"Those...Those mutants..They..They tried to kill me!" He said, the fear rising in his voice.

"Where's Blake? I thought you two went together..?"

"They..They took him. He offered to go..."

As Greg began to walk towards the door, he heard screeching of car tires and the sound of slamming doors. Heavy footsteps neared the house and seconds later a small white canister crashed through one of the windows and hit a table's leg, rolling along the ground near Cody's feet. It exploded instantly, knocking Cody off of his feet backwards, slamming into a table as his father was whisked away by men in black armor. Cody managed to open his eyes before a rag went over his nose and mouth. He could taste the horrible, rancid taste of the liquid that was on the rag and smelled the strong, piercing smell of the rag itself. Soon, what he thought to be reality was nothing more than black.

"Wake up!" 

Cody felt the sting of a hard slap to his right cheek, slinging his head to the left. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing the blurred, shaky image of a bald man in a black suit.

"Why did you attempt to burn down the library?" The man said, moving to sit across from Cody.

He just now realized that there was a table in front of him. The only thing on it was a tape recorder. His consciousness slowly began to come back. Three men began to lift up their pistols. The men were stationed around the room. Two at the door and one beside the man in the suit.

"I..uh..." Cody only managed to get out, his head bobbing from one side to another. 

"Tell me, why did you try to kill all those people.."

"B..But.. I did...I didn't..."

"Don't lie. We have eyewitness accounts from many people stating that _you_ were the one igniting the library. We aren't friendly to freaks like you."

Cody began to struggle against the straps, and, to his good luck, one of them loosened. Being under heavy sedatives, he still didn't have his full strength back, so making a rescue attempt this early would be suicide.

"Tell me straight. Why did you try to kill those people, was it because they were different? Because they weren't worthy?"

Cody loosened each one of the straps that bound him to the cold wooden chair with the help of his ability. He was now loose enough to make a move. The fact is, was it possible for him to leave alive?

--  
"They said it was a lightning bolt.." A police officer said, walking up to Matthew who was sitting next to his scared daughter in a van, their legs hanging off of the side.

"Thanks for the info.." The police officer nodded and walked off.

"See? Everything will be alright.. I promise.. " Matthew said, wrapping his arms around his stunned daughter.

"I want to go to mommy.." She said, prying her eyes away from the road and looking up at Matthew's face, "I want to go see mommy."

"Honey.. she lives nearby, I'll let you stay with her for awhile, if you want.."

His daughter nodded. Matthew picked her up and hopped off of the van.

"Let's head to your mommy's house, okay?"

May nodded and Matthew walked away from the scene with her. Seeing as she was across the street at a friend's house, she wasn't involved at all, so the police would not have wanted to speak with either of them. He walked to his '97 Toyota and let go of his daughter as she ran around the car and stood by the door as Matthew unlocked it. She hopped in the passenger-side back seat and into her car seat. Matthew hopped in his driver side seat and shut the door. He stuck the key into the ignition and turned it, letting the beast roar for a moment before he put the car in drive and took off.

Minutes later, they arrived at her mother's house. May really wasn't his daughter but more of his ex-wife's daughter, who was 36 at the moment and has been jumping around from boyfriend to boyfriend. Pulling up to the curb, Matthew slid out of the car, leaving it running. He walked over to May's door on her right and opened it. He took her out of the car seat and set her on the ground, watching her run to her mom's door as it opened. Matthew just watched Lori open the door and let May in. Without any hesitation, Lori closed the door hard. Matthew just scoffed and walked back around the car to the driver's side and slid back into his seat.

_Screw her then.._

He shut his door and buckled in, taking off again.

_At least I won't need to pay on my apartment anymore.._

He turned a corner in his car and stopped at a stoplight. Once it turned green, he pressed back on the gas, taking off again. He was headed to his old friend Scott, whom graduated with him from Bayville High. Last he heard was that Scott was teaching in some prep school on the outskirts of the town. He knew where he was headed, because personally, he had gone there for three years before being sent to normal school. He always resented Professor Xavier and kind of hoped he'd be dead by now.

Well. Dead-ish.

--  
Strolling through the corridors of the X Mansion, Huey, or Frag, was listening to his mp3 player, two white cords strung down from his ears and down his chest and into his right pocket, becoming one cord. He had a black t-shirt which had his favorite band name on it, 'Anarchy Club' as well as a white scrunched up long-sleeved undershirt, fingerless gloves with a red X on them as well as gray carpenter pants. He was 13 when his parents sent him to a 'prep school' or what they thought was one. He could never get along in school, mainly because everything- everything set him off. Since then, though, he's learned to control his anger better, resulting in not as many fights, or injuries.

Frag was actually heading to his weekly Danger Room session with Beast. Last time, they had to end it short because Frag had almost gotten his head lopped off. Finally making it to the top floor elevator, he opened the doors and stepped inside, closing the doors. The elevator began to descend to the bottom floor rather quickly. He was glad he had the earphones in his head because the elevator music was exceptionally horrible today. As the elevator dinged and opened, Huey walked out of it. He repositioned his White Sox ball cap that hid his short, ruffled hair and headed down the hall and took a right, heading towards the Danger Room.

He pushed the doors open for the Danger Room, once again looking around at the many panels that made up the room's domed walls. If it wasn't for the distraction of what you can call a greeting by Beast over the intercom, he would have been imagining what all those panels could hold all day. He plucked the ear phones out of his ears and looked up to Beast who was in a small glass-encased room at the top. Frag took the mp3 out of his pocket and set it aside, making sure to turn it off first. He looked up to Beast who was raising an eyebrow at Frag's clothing. 

"Oh.. yeah..."

"Yes. That. Go get uniformed, then we can start, Frag."

_Rather stiff today..._

Picking up his mp3 player and taking off his cap he pushed his way back out of the room and down the hall. He sighed and walked into the room on the left. Strangely, it was already open. But he figured Beast just opened it for him from his controls.

_Let's see here..._

He walked into the right side of the room, with 'Male' written over the archway. His eyes wandered through the many rows of lockers until he spotted 'Huey M. Snyder,' written in white block letters on one of the lockers. He pressed in a few buttons in a key pad on the locker and it slid to the left, opening. Two outfits appeared. His X Suit which was black with a large brown X down the chest, starting from the shoulders and ending at the waist. A brown belt which had several full pockets on it. Several other X's adorned the shoulders. There was also another piece of clothing that was suitable. It was a black polyester trench coat that Rogue tailored for him a while back, along with a pair of fingerless gloves that he had worn earlier.

He slid into his X Suit which surprisingly fit him perfectly and clung to every curve of a muscle and such. As he walked out of the room, he clicked on his belt and slid into his trench coat, letting it stay open, swaying with his movements. His hair was straight and coming down to his chin now, brown with red streaks and his eyes were a deep color of brown and he had a distinct scar which was an elongated crescent starting from the tip of his nose to the end of his jaw, coming no where near his lips.

"I'm back," Frag said, walking in, his white skin tone of his face standing out against his clothing.

"Good, now stand in the middle. This will be a split session. Half will be throwing, half will be hand-to-hand weapon combat."

"Gotcha."

"Do I have to explain the rules?"

"We've gone through this before, I know the ropes."

"Good, let's get started."

"We're starting with throwing, I'm loading seven targets and setting the time limit as well as the environment."

Frag looked around his environment as it slowly faded away from chrome to wood. He was in an abandoned warehouse, rafters and storage boxes ladened the floor and ceiling, stacked high. The smell of mold and mildew was overwhelming, but he soon came to deal with it.

"You have five minutes to incapacitate your targets, only using throws."

Frag nodded, not moving from where he was, he watched as three men materialized from mid air about twenty feet from him. He knew that four more materialized at the same time somewhere within the warehouse as well, he just didn't know where.

"Go."

With that, the three men (which I will refer to as man A, man B, and man C) ran forward towards Frag in no sort of order or arrangement. Man A dived for Frag when he was about five feet from him. Frag crouched and rolled with him, grabbing his arms in mid air and propping his feet underneath man A's abdomen. Frag rolled backwards, using this momentum to vault man A in the air backwards and slam him into a box which was filled with pipes, which covered him when he landed. Frag rolled to his feet and slid to the left as man B threw a kick at him. Within seconds, man C threw a punch at his face from the side, a right hook. Frag grabbed man C's arm and man B's leg with his left and right hands. He slid forward underneath man C's arm and B's leg and spun in place, holding on and spinning them with him. He finally let go and watched as they both soared in the air a few feet before smashing into the side of the wall, fading away in a green glow.

"Well done," Beast said over the intercom, "four more to go."

Frag just shook his head and panted a little, looking around for a moment then walking forward.

"You can use your powers, you know."

Huey smiled a little bit. He reached into one of his pockets on his belt and pulled out a small marble as he walked, rolling it between his fingers.  
_Only four more.._

He watched as one man(man D) leaped in the air towards him from the top of a rafter. Huey slid out of the way as the man D flipped in mid-air to his feet and landed, running again towards Frag. Huey threw the marble at the man's head, using his power he levitated the marble and split it from the inside out, sending directed shards at the man's face, each small shard ripping into his flesh. He used this distraction to run up and roll along the ground in front of the man. He lifted both of his legs up vertically and locked them around his neck. Frag twisted his body to the side and brought his legs back, flinging the man over his body and into the wall. Huey lay there on his stomach, watching the second man (man E) send a kick to Huey's face. Frag rolled to the side and grabbed his leg, yanking man E down to the ground.

Frag flipped to his feet and grabbed the man by the ankle and dragged him along the ground, walking forward. He lifted the man and heaved him to the side, grabbing the ankle with his other hand as he swung him around, slamming him into a wooden column that was holding the roof up nearby and letting him go, effectively snapping the man's spinal cord, rendering him incapacitated. Man F was behind Frag as he turned around. Man F spun, throwing out a leg in a roundhouse, connecting with Frag's jaw and sending him spiraling to the ground. Huey landed hard on his chest, the air being knocked out of his lungs.

"Two minutes remaining," Beast said over the intercom.

Frag quickly rolled to the side and stood up. Man F threw a punch towards Frag's face, but missed due tot he fact that his head had moved out of the way long before. Frag ducked under his arm and moved towards man F. He slid a leg between his and planted it there, grabbing man F's arm and wrenching it, then pulling it forward, his leg tripping man F up and Frag followed through, throwing him over his shoulder into man G who was running towards him. Frag stood up straight and watched as man F collided with man G and together hit one of the containers, breaking through that one and hitting one behind it, spilling it's contents on top of them.

"Task completed. Well done."

The environment, the bodies, and the smell of the area disappeared, leaving only the metallic dome from before. He wiped a few beads of sweat off of his forehead and looked up to Beast, who was clicking away at the computer.

"Three minute break. After the break, we'll begin on hand-to-hand weapon combat."

Huey nodded and started to walk to the entrance of the Danger Room. He walked to the door and opened it, heading out into the cold hallway. The change from the Danger Room's moist atmosphere to the cold, dry atmosphere of the subbasement was welcoming, and he embraced it. He went to a door on his right and opened it up. It was a break room for the Danger Room, and from the window in the back you could clearly see into the room. Huey, or Frag, opened up the refrigerator that was near the widow and pulled out a bottled water. It was freezing, which was perfect for his condition. His jaw ached, and it was hard to swallow the freezing liquid but he had to drink, either that or his mouth was so dry that he couldn't help it.

Frag sat down on a small couch in the corner and pulled his legs to his chest, taking another drink then setting the bottle on a stand nearby. __


	4. A Session to Forget

"Alright, we're going to do a few tests, if that's alright," Rogue said, sitting Blake down on the table in the second infirmary. Storm was standing nearby Rogue and Nightcrawler was heading to the Danger Room to check up on Beast.

"Yeah, that's cool," Blake said, his shirt off and his chest covered in a type of blue cloth.

"Now, this won't hurt a bit. All I need is a minute and we're all done here," she said, turning to the machine's controls.

It looked a little like a CAT Scan machine, even though it wasn't. Jean had created a prototype of it far before her demise, and Forge had completed it. When used, it produced a read-out of the chemical balances and the current genetic mutations within the human body. In short, it told the user what 'abilities' the mutant had and didn't have. It usually didn't work on passive abilities, but it was worth a try.

Rogue pressed a few buttons and Blake and the bed he was on slid into the machine.

"Don't look directly into the light hon," she said, pressing a few buttons as the machine lit up with an intense array of small blue beams, scanning over his face and chest.

Storm looked over the operation as usual, watching as Blake slid back out and stood up. Storm tossed him his T-shirt and he put it on, swinging his legs around to face Rogue. Rogue hit a few buttons and the printer nearby spit out a piece of graph paper, containing information. She read over it and handed it to Storm, smiling to Blake and turning back around, switching off the machine.

"You're free to go hon. I'd suggest talking to Storm about a room. It looks like you'll be transferring," she said, "we'll call your parents in a bit."

Blake swallowed and nodded to Rogue. He had a slight crush on her, but it was no biggie. She was about three years older than him, and it wouldn't even be legal. Besides, he was sure she was taken anyway. He hopped off of the table and looked to Storm, who nodded a put a hand around his shoulders. He was about the same height as her, so there wasn't much of a difference in size.

"I've already made plans about a room for you.. " She said, walking out of the room, putting the spreadsheet of his condition in her pocket. 

"You and your brother.. are twins.. right?" She said, leading him to the elevator and walking in, the doors shutting behind them as the room rose steadily.

"Yeah, we are."

Storm nodded. She had expected as much. "You probably know by now that you and your brother's powers have blossomed.. but the computer only picked up one ability, for you, that is."

Blake looked her in the eyes, "am I sick?"

Storm smiled and shook her head, "you're extremely gifted. Just like all of us here."

--  
"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" John said, walking into Professor Xavier's office.

Xavier turned around in his chair, his right leg crossed over his left knee and he settled his eyes on the man who entered.

"Ah.. John... glad to see you again.. after your disappearance in Genosha, I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Yeah, well I didn't think I'd be back. Given the beating I took, I doubted I'd even survive after leaving the Brotherhood.."

"Remember. You're always welcome in the X Men. You only turned away because you felt betrayed."

"I'm hoping to come back, to be with you guys again. I remember those times with Cyke.. Too bad what happened to him and Jean."

"Yes, very upsetting. But we've learned to deal with our losses. I'm sure everyone will be glad to have you back. Especially Ororo and Rem."

John laughed, "Old Remy? How's that ragin' Cajun been?"

Xavier smiled a little, "He's been well. He's currently on an assignment and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Well I'd like to talk with him when he gets back."

"Indeed you will."

"Is my room still intact?"

Xavier nodded, "Fairly. We had to do some remodeling after what you did to it.."

He smirked and nodded to Xavier. "Well, I'm glad you're going to accept me back."

"It's getting late and we're about to finish up for the day. Tomorrow we'll hold a meeting and we'll get you back on the team."

"I'm counting on it, Professor."

Xavier smiled and nodded at John, "I expected as much."

John turned and headed for the door. He put his hand on the doorhandle and pushed it down, the metal on it turning to liquid and splashing on the ground as he walked out, slowly reforming into a ball once on the ground.

"It's official..Silverstorm is back.."

--  
"Alright, time's up. Lets get back to that session, Frag," Beast said over the intercom that blared even louder in the break room.

Huey grimaced and finished off his bottled water. He pushed his legs back down to the floor and stood up, swiping back the trench coat's flayed end as he stood. He walked out of the open door of the break room and through the doors into the Danger Room once more.

"This is the second half of the session. Hand-to-hand weapon combat."

Frag nodded, walking into the center of the domed room and standing still.

"Take a pick," Beast said, hitting a small blue button on the console as a variety of stave's, swords, knives, bats, clubs and spikes emerged from the wall in a rack.

Huey smiled a bit and walked back and up the length of the rack, his gaze moving from weapon to weapon, like a child in a candy store. He found his lollipop.

"Hello Hank," Kurt said, walking in and bowing to Beast.

"Oh, hello Nightcrawler. Come to check up on me?" Beast said, not looking away from his controls, nor Frag.

Kurt laughed slightly, watching Frag lift up a rather long katana. He tossed it back and reached in to grab a dagger, "he has an eye for danger, no?"

Hank smiled to Kurt and nodded, "he was always a wild one."

Huey threw it back and reached in once more, pulling out a rather large bow staff. He twirled the staff around his body and set it under his right armpit, loosening his grip and letting all 6 feet of the staff slide through his fingers and plant itself on the ground.

"Becoming a young Gambit, I see," Beast said.

Frag turned to Beast, smirking.

"Lets start this already.."

Hank nodded and hit a small sequence of buttons as the environment around Frag began to change.

It was the same as before, but everything seemed to have a certain.. eerie ambiance to it. Frag tightened his grip on the staff, bringing it up forwards and grasping it between his two hands, holding it out in front of him, tilted slightly towards the ground and letting the back end of it stick out between his right armpit.

"Loading targets now..You have three minutes to incapacitate the four enemies using only the staff- no powers, no tricks.

Frag nodded, watching as a man appeared in front of him from mid air, swirling in with a mist, twirling a set of numchaku (man A). He noticed two others appeared to his sides and another he just figured appeared behind him.

"Ready?"

Frag nodded, not moving from his spot, his eyes locking with the white void that was the eyes of man A in front of him.

"Go."

He watched as man A spun his numchucks around his body skillfully. Once he got close enough, he sent one end towards Frag's face. Huey ducked under it and shoved the tip of his staff on the side of the chain as the numchaku began to swing back around. With the staff blocking it, the numchaku wrapped around the tip of the staff. Frag quickly grabbed a hold of his staff tightly and dived forward with both feet, drop kicking man A in the chest with his feet, knocking him to the floor rather quickly.

Using this momentum, Frag pulled into a back flip before touching the ground, landing quickly and picking back up his staff as the numchaku began to slide off. He quickly flicked the staff in man B's direction, who was hit with full force of one of the wooden numchaku, falling backwards, still holding onto his katana. After that maneuver, Frag was sent stumbling forward from a kick to the lower back and fell to his knees. Screaming out in pain as man C threw a sai into his right arm, embedding itself into his right shoulder, making him fall to his face.

He turned his head right as man B came down with his katana vertically towards Frag's face. Using whatever strength he had, Huey rolled to the side, dodging that strike and rolling to a crouch forward. He noticed another sai soaring towards his face. He quickly laid down flat as the sai sailed harmlessly past him and clanked to the floor some 30 feet away. He sat up as a katana strike was aimed at his head, once again, dodging the strike. He watched as the man with the sai ran to pick up his thrown weapon. Frag had noticed that his bow staff was lying next to him. He rolled over the staff and picked it up with his right hand. He watched as man B came down with another strike aimed at his head. Frag moved his head mere inches to the left and bringing the staff up with his injured right arm, slamming the butt of the staff into the man's chest and sending him to the floor.

He let go of the staff and grasped the sai by the handle. He screamed as he pulled it out and threw it aside, feeling the warm sensation of blood trickling down his skin underneath his clothing. He grabbed his staff once more and moved to a crouch, using the staff as a cane, he pulled himself to his feet- and not a second too soon. Man C had struck at his head with one of his two sai, missing horrendously, stumbling forward and landing on his face. Frag quickly shook off the feeling of pain and twirled his staff and ran forwards to man B before he could grasp his katana in both hands. Frag threw the bow staff like a javelin with all the strength he could muster at man B's head. The staff harmlessly passing by and slamming into the wall behind him.

Huey took the opportunity as man C was recovering and man B was slightly stunned by the projectile attack and he ran up and kicked the man's hands which were grasping the embedded katana's hilt, making the man reel back and hold his hands. Frag ran towards the man, keeping his right hand on the katana's hilt, he yanked it out of the ground and leaped into the air, bringing the katana from behind him over his head to grasp it with both hands. Obviously not having enough strength to go straight through, he lodged the katana length-wise straight onto the man's skull. He stood there as man B stumbled a little, blood trickling out of his wound then fell to the ground.

Huey smiled. He thought he had won, but he had forgotten about man C. Before he could react, a sai flew in the air towards him from his right side. Frag took a quick look right and gasped and closed his eyes, as the sai was headed directly for his face. Suddenly, Frag's body disappeared in a gray smoke cloud- not dark purple, like Nightcrawler's. Seconds later, he appeared standing some 60 feet away on the other side of the room as his environment began to swivel and blur. His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed backwards onto his back, unconscious.

Beast quickly turned off the simulation and nudged Kurt as Nightcrawler 'ported down to where Frag was, leaning over his body and putting one finger underneath the concave of his neck.

"Still alive, let's get him to the infirmary."

Beast quickly shut off the Danger Room protocols and switched open the automatic doors and disappearing from his glass room upstairs. Kurt picked Huey up and carried him out of the room, handing him to Beast once they met in the hallway.   
--  
"I still don't know why you're even in my company, Mystique," Magneto said, moving to sit in a metallic chair across from Mystique in a room similar to the one that was used to interrogate Cody.

"I'm sorry sir. The X Men got involved.."

"And that's a reason to run away?"

"I didn't want any unnecessary conflic-"

"Nonsense. Our plan is ruined. The boy has gotten away."

"Not quite.." Mystique said, moving to stand, pushing her chair backwards.

"Oh?" Magneto responded, watching her stand.

"If I can do some research, I'm positive I can find where he is."

"Go then. Give me any information you can get from her.."

Mystique nodded, leaving the room, Eric slamming the door magnetically as she left.

"Pyro, tell me where I can find her."

"Well.. the bitch's right down the hall. Feisty one that is. Kinda surprised she even made it."

Mystique put a hand on John's chest as she passed. He was still damp from earlier and hasn't had a chance to change. His lighter was destroyed by the water, so he really had no chance to use his power to dry himself off. Mystique pushed open a heavy cast-iron door, transforming into Cyclops as she headed inside, walking along the rows of cages until she saw a girl wearing mostly pink and blue, with a hint of white.

"Blink.." She said, watching Blink's head rise. A small head piece covered the top of her head. A neural inhibitor- a nasty device modified to repress any mutant powers and halt any usage.

"Cyke?"


End file.
